


Three Mistakes

by Vashoth



Category: Dragon Age, Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II, Mass Effect
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-06
Updated: 2015-02-06
Packaged: 2018-03-10 17:31:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3298370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vashoth/pseuds/Vashoth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Commander Hawke bought a soldering iron at the behest of Merrill and her experiments. When the idea backfires, she finds someone new to give the gift to. Someone slightly less receptive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Three Mistakes

**Author's Note:**

> Notes on how the characters are translated from different universes is at the bottom!

Her first mistake was the soldering iron. She thought surely it wouldn’t matter which one she got, right? They just got hot and melted shit. Metal shit, to be specific. Apparently the differences between the variations of soldering irons were vast and specific which ended up with Hawke making several trips to the Citadel for one exiled quarian. One low heat, small surface, ergonomically designed or quarian hands soldering iron later (and about $500 credits shorter) Hawke made her second mistake. She should have asked what the project _was._

The second she stepped out of decontamination, she caught Carver helping Merrill lug a huge pile of scrap down the halls of The Siren’s Call. Between the bulky asari and the itty bitty quarian, they seemed to be handling the job just fine. The garbage sack was about one strong tug from breaking open, and the metal dragging on the ground was making an awful screeching sound. Undoubtedly it was scratching the ship as well, but more importantly it looked like geth heads. A huge bag of detached geth heads.

“Are those for your project, Merrill?” Hawke asked tentatively.

“Yes! Well, no. Not all of them. Just whichever one fits his systems best.” She tried to gently lower the bag down, “I promise I’ll safely dispose of the rest.”

“His?” Hawke shot a look at Carver who immediately looked at the floor. That answered Rees’ first question; Luca did not know about this. Carver only looked ashamed when there was a good chance his sister was going to beat him up. And geth heads were presumably a big no-no. The golden asari was going to be _pissed_.

“Not Carver! He already has a nice head.” Merrill giggled. Carver had the audacity to look flustered. She continued, “No, it’s for _Eluvian_. I think I found a way to get him online within a week!”

Merrill was still talking, something about matching hardware and software systems to a programming similar to the original geth, but Hawke was not listening. All she heard was ‘live geth on the ship in under a week’. She very carefully tucked the shopping bag with the soldering iron behind her leg thanking any god she could recall that the bagging was opaque.

“Is that my new soldering iron, then?”

“This?” Hawke gestured at the bag in the most surprised voice she could muster. “Ah, uhm. Nope. They didn’t have the one you wanted. It’s just a uh. Welcoming gift. For Fenris.”

That was her third and most fatal mistake.

“For Fenris?” Carver asked dubiously. “The quarian that nearly killed you for coming to his own rescue? _That_ Fenris?”

Merrill whacked his arm gently. “I think it’s a great idea, Hawke! He must be feeling awfully confused. It might cheer him up! He is a bit grumpy.”

Carver snorted and picked up his end of the bag of geth heads again. He shot her his absolute most irritating grin. She was positive he must practice. Rees made a mental note to inform Luca. “Try to keep it in your pants, Commander. I know that can be hard for you.”

“I think I can manage spending a small amount of time with an angry quarian without removing my pants, thank you.” Hawke replied stiffly. She watched the two of them carry off the mound of geth technology. Geth that she was ninety percent sure she and the crew had killed.

It was an alarming notion that she’d eventually be face to face with one of the machines she had shot down without a second thought. A machine that, despite how _very much_ she wanted to trust Merrill, was _very likely_ to want to get even. Possibly in a literal numbers sense. The thought had her stomach rolling around and prodding at her ribcage. Her fingers toyed with the plastic bag in her hands. She stayed there on the bridge for a minute fraying bits of the plastic where it stretched thin. She supposed she had better find a good excuse for the soldering gun. Fenris didn’t seem like he was open to exchanging gifts at the drop of a hat. He had barely spoken a complete sentence since joining the Siren, save to chastise Merrill for her project and berate Anders for, well, as far as she could tell, just being Anders.

Her feet moved her through the decks of the ship with more confidence than she felt. At the edge of the stairs leading to the star gazing deck, she hesitated. _Nope,_ she thought. _Keep going, Hawke. You got yourself into this mess._ Her hand rested on the panel to open the door and she stopped again. _Should I knock?_ It was a ridiculous thought. Of course not. It was her own damn ship. She was the captain and she got to go wherever the hell she wanted.

She knocked three times. After what must have been a goddamn year, the door slid open. She tried to smile convincingly. Fenris said nothing.

“I uh. I got you something!” She hoisted the bag up to eyelevel. He regarded it silently then looked back at her. The mask was one hell of a poker face. She tried to squint and see if there was any recognizable expression in there, which seemed to irritate him. He pulled away from the door and walked back into the mess he’d made of the room. There was junk lying everywhere surrounding the mound of pillows and blankets he had made for himself as a bed. She followed him inside cautiously.

“You know, you don’t have to stay in here. There are actual rooms with beds available and everything,” She offered for the hundredth time.

“I like it in here,” He said. “It’s quiet.”

“Alright. Well.”

She stood there awkwardly holding the sack. If he was going to relieve her from the silent tension, he made no indication that he planned on doing it soon. Hawke let the bag thump to the ground, ran a hand through her long hair and groaned irritably. She stalked over to the door and shut it. The second she heard the hiss of the air pressure locking the door, she turned back around.

“Look. I got a soldering gun for Merrill—“

“You _what_?”

“--- _I know_ , but I’m just not ready for her project—“

“Building _geth_ , you mean.”

“—yes, the fucking _geth_. I just…” Hawke trailed off. “I’m stalling, okay?”

He stared. “So you did not actually get me something.”

“What? No. I mean, yes. Technically.” She gesturing to the bag vaguely. “It’s the soldering gun. You have a ton of crap up here and well…”

“You think that because I’m quarian I will use it.” The irritation in his voice was plain. She cringed.

“Well the grip is designed for quarian hands so,” She tried to explain. “It’s either you or Merrill.”

She couldn’t see his face but she was positive there was a scowl. The way his shoulders hunched forward and he tucked one leg behind him screamed ‘I would be pleased to end your life’. Hawke was actually beginning to feel a bit badly. Merrill must have a bit of a point. Surely he was at least a little unsettled. Less than a month ago he had been dodging gangs and Cerberus on the streets of the Wards, and now he was on the Siren’s Call. He had made a point of making sure Merrill know he had no fleet, nor did he care to find one it seemed. Guilt swelled in her throat and made her palms sweat.

“Look, if you don’t want it…” She trailed off. He looked down at the bag again.

“I will find a use for it,” he said, ushering her quickly out of his room and locking the door behind her.

Rees stood in the hallway, bagless, and without a good excuse for knocking again but she wanted to. Her fingers wiggled at her sides with temptation but the hiss of the pressure lock dissuaded her and she went instead to go bother Isabela. There had to be _something_ profitable and illegal to do before the Council caught up with them.

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, for those of you new to this universe, let me clarify some stuff. 
> 
> Commander Shepard = Commander Rees Hawke. Her sister is Bethany Hawke. In this universe, Bethany and Gamlen are the only family she has.  
> Luca Swallows = Nebulad's Hawke, but for this universe, is not Hawke. She's the asari Consort and she dyes her skin golden. She's badass and Carver is her brother (also an asari. a male identified asari. any issues with this can be forwarded to nebulad with the title "meet me in the pit")  
> Isabela = Asari pirate queen. This is her ship, and she is the pilot.  
> Merrill = Quarian, geth sympathizer.  
> Fenris = Quarian that has escaped Cerberus testing labs. His suit has Reaper tech implants. He is 1000% a fugitive. 
> 
> I believe that's all the information necessary for this lil' ficlet. Let me know if I forgot anything!


End file.
